SOC 100 1st Edition Final Exam Study Guide SOCIALIZATION Socialization be able to define it but also know why it is important and how it works The process through which the self is shaped and developed through social interactions How ideal symbolic culture is transmitted through practices habits and fields Mead s theory of socialization significant others generalized other was probably the most important component of this section 1 Status including ascribed vs achieved statuses the status set and master status Ascribed the social status a person is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life it is a position that is neither earned nor chosen but assigned Achieved a concept developed by the anthropologist Ralph Linton denoting a social position that a person can acquire on the basis of merit it is a position that is earned or chosen Status set all the social statuses of an individual Master status the social status within the status set that is most important or meaningful for the individual 2 Role including problems like role conflict and role strain A set of duties and expectations that an actor identified with a specific social location or social status is socialized to perform Role conflict occurs when a person takes on two roles that cause a dilemma parent versus police officer boss versus lover Role strain occurs when a role is too demanding or difficult for an individual to fulfill 3 Norm including norm sets and emotion work Expected behaviors Each norm is sort of like a rule for performing the role these can be formal or informal and even include feeling rules and or emotion work 4 Agents of socialization including total institutions structured situations in which socialization takes place which means that micro level socialization is more often than not tied to macro level social structures Family educational institutions peer groups mass media workplace total institutions DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL Deviance Be able to define it and know why it is important Deviance is a behavior trait belief or other characteristic that violates a social norm It can be mild or severe formal or informal intentional or unintentional All societies define some things as deviant and everyone has been deviant in some way or another You should also know what a social control is Be able to define the different types of social controls a formal or informal mechanism that is used to maintain conformity to social norms typically in response to deviance 1 Sanctions positive and negative Positive various ways in which a society rewards conformity expresses approval Negative various ways in which a society punishes deviance expresses disapproval 2 Crime andpunishment Courts police officers prisons etc all enforce formal social norms by forcefully punishing deviant behavior and or inducing deterrence 3 Hegemony when culture itself becomes a method of social control A population might be systematically socialized to believe false or misleading information propaganda miseducation You should also know the functions of deviance social integration vs social change 1 Durkheim deviance is functional 2 Moynihan deviance is constant 3 Merton structural causes of deviance Social integration a dynamic and principled process where all members participate in dialogue to achieve and maintain peaceful social relations Social Change an alteration in the social order of a society The most important thing to know from this section is Merton s structural theory of deviance You need to understand how this theory works and how it explains the social causes of crime Merton looked at how social structures maintain culture Mainstream culture gives everyone in a society certain goals There will be at least one question over each strategy 1 Conformity Is when someone accepts the cultural goals and accepts the normal institutionalized means Example college students who are attending a university to get into a high paying career 2 Ritualism Is when someone accepts the normal institutionalized means but rejects or forfeits the cultural goals Example chronically poor factory workers who work every day but have given up on their goals 3 Innovation Is when someone accepts the cultural goals but rejects the normal institutionalized means Instead they attempt to achieve the goals in unaccepted ways deviance Example Walter White in Breaking Bad 4 Retreatism Is when someone rejects both the cultural goals and the normal institutionalized means Instead they try to escape altogether deviance Example Chris McCandless in Into the Wild 5 Rebellion Rebellion is when someone rejects both the cultural goals and the normal institutionalized means but then supplements them with new goals and means deviance Example hippies who start a commune You should also know and understand Becker s cultural theory of deviance Culture forms a lens through which we see the world and beliefs values and attitudes lead to certain practices and habits SOCIAL CHANGE Obviously you should be able to define social change Understand how this relates to deviance The transformation of social structures over time including culture and social institutions like the family law education work etc In class we talked about some important social changes that are happening in the U S You do not need to memorize specific statistics but you should know the overall trends For example while you do not need to memorize the percentages of Americans who support same sex marriage you should know that there has been a significant increase in support for same sex marriage in the U S Here are some trends 1 Changing gender roles of American women 2 Rampant inequality becoming normal in the U S 3 Computers and internet becoming normal in the U S 4 Poverty flees to the suburbs and the reversal of white flight in the U S 5 Increased approval for interracial marriage in the U S 6 The decline in traditional American family structure 7 Increased approval for same sex marriage in the U S 8 Predicted increased approval for polygamy polyamory in the U S 9 Global decline in religiosity increase in number of atheists agnostics and secular Americans 10 Increased approval for marijuana decriminalization in the U S 11 Increased approval for socialism and social democracy in the U S 12 Whites predicted to become a national minority by 2050 13 Most older Americans are now white and upper class most younger Americans are now diverse and lower class ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY Sociologists look for